Ages Ahead
by Firewings
Summary: She awoke to a harsh, new environment....


She awoke to a harsh new environment. The first thing she noticed was how warm it was. This time of year, it should have still been cold. It wasn't just the weather, though. Everything felt so.... different.  
She wandered around, trying to figure out where she was. And something-- or someone-- seemed to be missing.  
She was so busy thinking, she didn't quite realize when she came to the first very strange thing. It was only when her feet felt a strange ground that she actually looked where she was. She was standing on a strange, large path that was hard and black. She bent down to feel it. It was made of some kind of gravel, but how did it get so black?   
The woman followed the path until she came to what made her stop and stare in bewilderment. She couldn't really be seeing what she thought she was seeing. The woman kept walking until she came very close, and her thoughts were confirmed.   
  
  
Something was wrong. The man looked around him, trying to figure out what it was. Something was missing. It had been there just moments before, hadn't it? Although, strangely, "just moments before" suddenly seemed like a long time ago. He couldn't even remember much of what had happened before now. There was something strange about this place. Why was it so warm?  
Jayla started whimpering, "Maaa?" The man hugged her to him, stroking her soft brown hair. The child's cries struck a nerve in his heart and he knew it had something to do with what was missing. Why couldn't he remember?  
  
  
Ayla stared into the bowl of soup she'd received. She couldn't eat it, though. How could she? She had no idea where she was or why she was even there. She had seen and heard so many things that day that her head still pounded with the ache. And something kept nagging and tugging at her mind and especially her heart. She was missing something. But what?  
None of the people spoke to her, but they seemed to understand her. They had given her food and a shelter without asking too many questions. But they weren't the ones she needed.  
  
  
They'd been moving along for a very long time. Jayla was asleep; her cries had only just subsided. The man was very agitated now. His mind was whirling, trying to find the very important memory it had lost.  
  
  
  
The man stood, frozen. He couldn't really be seeing what he thought he was seeing. Could he? It was just too weird. He closed his eyes, but when he opened them, it was still there. He must be dreaming. Just then, Jayla awoke, her face already scrunching up to start crying again. She blinked her eyes a bit, stared, and said,  
"Big Camp."  
That was the thing about little children. They could see something spectacular and amazing and utterly breathtaking, and describe it as simply as "Big Camp."  
Oh yes, it was a big Camp. The biggest Camp the man had ever seen in his LIFE! At least, he thought it was a Camp. There were, after all, people there. But what on earth were those giant, towering structures?? He looked down at his baby girl; if she could see it too, then surely it was real. Or else they were both having the same dream.  
Jayla's quiet had only lasted a moment, and she immediately began crying again. The man hugged her again, and started walking towards the Giant Camp, as he was feeling a strange pull towards it.   
Coming closer, the man realized that even the people were strange. They wore the strangest looking clothes he'd ever seen, but that wasn't what made him blanch. Oh, there were plenty of things that made him do that. For one thing, there were so many animals roaming around, RIGHT BESIDE THE PEOPLE. The man had a buried knowledge of only one time he'd seen animals stay close to a person. It was one of those things that made his stomach clench.  
There were other things, too. Things that could have made him faint dead away. There were these horrible monstrous creatures that moved on wheels and... and there were people INSIDE of them! He could actually see the people, and they looked as if they had no idea they'd been swallowed by the monsters. The man had to look away and close his eyes. Everything was giving him such a headache. And why was everyone staring at him like that? Surely they knew they'd seen his kind before, and knew how much more common they were?   
  
Stopping, finally, the man touched one of the openings on one of the structures. It was blocked by something hard. How did those other people get in? Suddenly, a woman from inside came up to the thing and pushed on it. The man jumped back, frightened. The woman looked him over, then said something in a strange language. The man shook his head and used his own language. No response. He tried a different one, Mamutoi. No response. Sharamudoi? He even tried a language using his hands, not remembering where he'd learned it. This time, the woman looked a bit more understanding. She took his hand and led him inside, where she began speaking with another woman.  
  
"Peg," Arianne said. "I think this man has something to do with that other woman we found two days ago."  
"Yes," Peg agreed. "He's even wearing the same kind of clothes as her."  
"And he started talking in that strange sign language she used. How is she, by the way?"  
"Fine. I gave her some soup, though she's not eating it."  
Peg shook her head. "Poor woman. I wonder where she came from?"  
"Yeah, I tried talking to her, but she didn't seem to understand any of the languages I-- sir?"  
  
The man stared, his heart thudding, at the woman who was sitting in a corner. Jayla, who had been strangely quiet for a moment, looked at the same woman and suddenly cried,  
"Mama!"  
  
Ayla's head shot up. Her heart nearly stopped altogether and time seemed to stand still. She cried out and jumped up, dropping her bowl of soup, and ran straight into the open arm of the man with the yellow hair and impossibly blue eyes.   
  
Tears were streaming down Jondalar's face as he held her. Everything, all the memories rushed back into his head like a tidal wave.  
"Ayla, Ayla, Ayla," he cried, over and over again.   
"Jondalar, I thought I'd lost you...." 


End file.
